what do you use when swabbing between shots?

[lonehorseman]

Wrong

No no. It’s dryballs turn. Lol.

Or maybe bearded 18th century re-enactors?

 

[golden sky]

well I found some old green scotbrite under my sink, cut out 1-1/4" squares and used my wooden ramrod successfully. just did about 80 strokes and it feels amaizingly smoother, wow! no idea what the grit rating is but damn thats nice

we shall see if this minimizes my swabbing

 

[Grenadier1758]

1. does swabbing fowl up the powder barrel and cause poor ignition. ?? it seems i could be forcing junk back in the ignition port when running a swab brush thru

2. would i be smart to polish the bore by shooting a few rounds of fine lapping compound coated balls thru, to reduce jagged surfaces that grip the fowling?

3. could i try shooting a thinner patch instead? but loading 1 thin patch over the powder, then 1 patch on the ball?

1. If you have a tight damp patch, it will push fouling to the breech. The fouling can build up at the touch hole or form a bridge at the top of a chambered breech to block the flash channel and cause poor ignition. This buildup of fouling can be minimized several ways. Mark your wiping rod so the end of your jag with the patch is about 3/4" above the breech face or chamber mouth. That will keep the fouling in that 3/4" space without causing a blockage at the breech or touch hole. You could reduce the diameter of the wiping jag, so the damp patch rides over the fouling and bunches up to pull the fouling out of the barrel.

I like to wipe the bore with a damp patch to extinguish any ember that may remain in the barrel. If done immediately after the shot, the wipe will also blow smoke out through the touch hole to verify the touch hole is clear. The damp patch can also detect a buildup of a crusty fouling ring where the powder meets the ball.

For the "no wipe" fans, the heavily dampened patched ball will push the fouling down the bore to end up where the powder meets the ball. You can get off a lot of shots, but the likelihood of building up the crusty ring increases.

2. Yes, it is a good idea to polish the bore to smooth out machine marks and take the edge off the lands to prevent cutting patches when loading. Sounds as if you are seeing some positive results from your scrubbing the bore with the Scotch-Brite pad.

3. An over powder wad of a bore sized disc of thin cardboard can wipe the fouling down the bore to the top of the powder charge. Thinner patches around the ball often result in gas cutting around the ball and reducing accuracy. Good results have been obtained with a smaller ball and thicker patch.

 

[golden sky]

i found some tungsten disulphide powder and applied it to a clean dry swab, just burnished that into the bore for about 10 minutes, now i'm curious as to what this will do to my groups...

 

[Mad L]

i found some tungsten disulphide powder and applied it to a clean dry swab, just burnished that into the bore for about 10 minutes, now i'm curious as to what this will do to my groups...

Be careful, I saw the Christmas episode of Vacation too!!!

....sorry, I couldn't resist

 

[Urban Coyote]

Ever hear of a fouling scraper? One of these along with a cleaning jag, ball screw and patch puller are, or should be, part of basic tool kit for a muzzleloader.

 

[Mad L]

Ever hear of a fouling scraper? One of these along with a cleaning jag, ball screw and patch puller are, or should be, part of basic tool kit for a muzzleloader.

Not sure how those four would help 'between shots'?
I have all of them and a worm but I only use them during evening clean up...except the ball puller, I usually just drop some powder behind the ball and shoot it out.

 

[smo]

I usually wipe the bore ever third shot…
Sometimes I’ll go 5 shots without wiping, but if the humidity is up it’s 3 shoots and wipe.

I use the same patch I use for shooting it’s dampened with blue windshield washer fluid and Mr.Clean…. The green kind

I have used spit also which worked
well and I carry a small bottle of denatured alcohol in my bag..

If the pan and bore become soupy , the alcohol can and will save the day.

Always pick the touch hole after wiping & wipe the flint and pan prior too reloading.

 

[BadDaditood]

Here’s an incomplete Scotch Brite grit equivalent chart, but still helpful
https://images.app.goo.gl/YaZxkmnodhXyHdqh7

 

[LME]

I cut up old tee shirts for patches and run one down the barrel after every shot. I have never used anything on the patches. After running the patch down the barrel I point the rifle down and tap the side of the rifle to let the crud fall out. It has worked for me and accuracy is as good as it gets.

 

[Mulemauler]

well I found some old green scotbrite under my sink, cut out 1-1/4" squares and used my wooden ramrod successfully. just did about 80 strokes and it feels amaizingly smoother, wow! no idea what the grit rating is but damn thats nice

we shall see if this minimizes my swabbing

I frequently get barrels in that look terrible but some WD-40 on a Scotch Brite pad does wonders. Use a patch jag one size smaller than bore. As it gets loose place a cleaning patch under the pad to snug it up. Won't remove pitting but sure cleans up surface rust and dried on gunk.

 

[kelljp]

Pine-Sol​

 

[Center_shot]

T/C #13. Just a diagonal line across the patch of wet/damp dots from a Visine dropper. Swab in and out, load up and shoot. No issues here.

 

[Bebop Cowboy]

Greetings to all of you! I am on this thread because of the problem of fouling in my Traditions Flintlock Kentucky Rifle. I did spring cleaning it, then wiped the barrel before going to the range. Did 8 shots with spit patch and dry one in between shots. after the 8th shot nothing but misfires. Frizzen sparks well, 4f Goex in pan, 2f Shutzen in barrel with 177 gr round ball. I had to push some 4f into the vent hole to prime the flash chamber and it would shoot, but after 4 rounds with these misfires and force feeding the vent hole it ceased to fire. had to force ball out with co2. very disturbing. the closest I can figure what's going on is what Lonehorseman is saying above. to stop the practice of swabbing between shots. It seems like swabbing pushes fouling into the flash chamber and cakes it up. If the fouling gets too tight to ram a projectile in the barrel it might be enough to push a spit patch down only to the height of where a powder fill would reach and not all the way down to the breech plug! does that make sense? This cant be rocket science! what would others say about this?
Please when discussing this be specific on what you have and use so others may benefit from this information.
I love the smell of Gunpowder. It is:

"le Parfum de la Liberté"​

"

​

 

[French Colonial]

Greetings to all of you! I am on this thread because of the problem of fouling in my Traditions Flintlock Kentucky Rifle. I did spring cleaning it, then wiped the barrel before going to the range. Did 8 shots with spit patch and dry one in between shots. after the 8th shot nothing but misfires. Frizzen sparks well, 4f Goex in pan, 2f Shutzen in barrel with 177 gr round ball. I had to push some 4f into the vent hole to prime the flash chamber and it would shoot, but after 4 rounds with these misfires and force feeding the vent hole it ceased to fire. had to force ball out with co2. very disturbing. the closest I can figure what's going on is what Lonehorseman is saying above. to stop the practice of swabbing between shots. It seems like swabbing pushes fouling into the flash chamber and cakes it up. If the fouling gets too tight to ram a projectile in the barrel it might be enough to push a spit patch down only to the height of where a powder fill would reach and not all the way down to the breech plug! does that make sense? This cant be rocket science! what would others say about this?
Please when discussing this be specific on what you have and use so others may benefit from this information.
I love the smell of Gunpowder. It is:

"le Parfum de la Liberté"​

"

​

I would assume that you are correct, and you are pushing a little fouling down when wiping between every shot until you have so much down there that it will not fire.

I do not own any patent or chambered breech guns so I cannot speak to them, all of my flintlocks go directly into the barrel in front of the breech plug and I never wipe between shots and 99% of my shooting is with spit patch only.

Try using a spit patch with no wiping and see how that works for you.

 

[Bebop Cowboy]

I would assume that you are correct, and you are pushing a little fouling down when wiping between every shot until you have so much down there that it will not fire.

I do not own any patent or chambered breech guns so I cannot speak to them, all of my flintlocks go directly into the barrel in front of the breech plug and I never wipe between shots and 99% of my shooting is with spit patch only.

Try using a spit patch with no wiping and see how that works for you.

Thanks for the tip!

 

[springfield art]

I usually used the Bar Towel, then I realized you were talking about muzzleloading shots, not Old Frothingslosh Bourbon!

 

[Mad L]

Greetings to all of you! I am on this thread because of the problem of fouling in my Traditions Flintlock Kentucky Rifle. I did spring cleaning it, then wiped the barrel before going to the range. Did 8 shots with spit patch and dry one in between shots. after the 8th shot nothing but misfires. Frizzen sparks well, 4f Goex in pan, 2f Shutzen in barrel with 177 gr round ball. I had to push some 4f into the vent hole to prime the flash chamber and it would shoot, but after 4 rounds with these misfires and force feeding the vent hole it ceased to fire. had to force ball out with co2. very disturbing. the closest I can figure what's going on is what Lonehorseman is saying above. to stop the practice of swabbing between shots. It seems like swabbing pushes fouling into the flash chamber and cakes it up. If the fouling gets too tight to ram a projectile in the barrel it might be enough to push a spit patch down only to the height of where a powder fill would reach and not all the way down to the breech plug! does that make sense? This cant be rocket science! what would others say about this?
Please when discussing this be specific on what you have and use so others may benefit from this information.
I love the smell of Gunpowder. It is:

"le Parfum de la Liberté"​

"

​

Try using an undersized jag with a thin patch to swab - my 50cal I use a 45cal jag with a patch of T-shirt I cut just for swabbing at the range (I use thicker flannel when cleaning).
The smaller jag and thinner patch might allow you to get past the fouling without pushing down to the breach, then pull it out...I also tip my rifle upside down from time to time and Thump it with palm of my hand, you can see the grains fall to the ground that may otherwise get into the vent.
Works for me..

 

[Tenring]

Windex…

 

[Buckskinquin]

Greetings to all of you! I am on this thread because of the problem of fouling in my Traditions Flintlock Kentucky Rifle. I did spring cleaning it, then wiped the barrel before going to the range. Did 8 shots with spit patch and dry one in between shots. after the 8th shot nothing but misfires. Frizzen sparks well, 4f Goex in pan, 2f Shutzen in barrel with 177 gr round ball. I had to push some 4f into the vent hole to prime the flash chamber and it would shoot, but after 4 rounds with these misfires and force feeding the vent hole it ceased to fire. had to force ball out with co2. very disturbing. the closest I can figure what's going on is what Lonehorseman is saying above. to stop the practice of swabbing between shots. It seems like swabbing pushes fouling into the flash chamber and cakes it up. If the fouling gets too tight to ram a projectile in the barrel it might be enough to push a spit patch down only to the height of where a powder fill would reach and not all the way down to the breech plug! does that make sense? This cant be rocket science! what would others say about this?
Please when discussing this be specific on what you have and use so others may benefit from this information.
I love the smell of Gunpowder. It is:

"le Parfum de la Liberté"​

"

​

Have to believe you have the cursed patent breech in your flint. If you don’t get a small (22cal.) brush down in there with a cleaning patch and and cleaner, the job ain’t done. Try to find someone with an endoscope and take a look. Can’t tell you how many people I’ve shown at the range this small channel between your drum, bolsteror flash hole and the actual powder chamber. With a flintlock there are flushing adapters that allow you flush this clean, but if you don’t have one, use the small brush and remove the flash hole to insure you have a clear path to your charge. Search and read about patent breeches on this forum.